Does anyone have a suggestion for a first guess at system efficiency for my first batch sparge. I have brewed 5 all grain batches using a fly sparge wheel and have gotten 85% efficiency every time. It has taken me at least an hour to sparge and I am looking to save a little time on brew day. I was thinking of shooting for 70%.

ive been sparging way to much to fast and i still get 50% efficency, although not a desired percentage i still end up with a decent brew, i would have to say sparge a bit quicker and see where it takes you, for instance if it takes you and hour to sparge, then cut your time to about 45 to 50 mins, maybe even 30 mins if your feeling lucky

Assuming that all other factors which affect efficiency are close to ideal, i.e., the settings on your mill or the proper crush if you get it already milled, and your mash schedule, etc., then if you are doing the batches correctly, I think you might start with an estimate of 70 to 75% for your first go, and see how close that it. I usually get 75 to 80%, and I've heard of even higher but I'd rather leave some fermentables than oversparge and have to boil off excess water, or even risk some astringency -- although I don't think that astringency is a typical problem with batch sparging unless you do a 4th running (3rd sparge) -- which I did on a recent partigyle and now I _think_ I can detect just a bit of astringency.

I think it is pretty well settled that batch sparging is slightly less efficient than fly sparging, but when I read a post like the above which mentions an hour sparge time, I remember why I batch. I can run and fully sparge my 5 gallon batch -- about 5.5 gallons pre-boil -- in probably 20 minutes, and that includes the repeated vorlaufs. But your speed for batches is going to depend on your equipment.

I use Beer Tools software, the efficiency was set at 75% and each of the beers ended up with a OG of .030 to .040 less then what it should of been. As for sparging I use the tube from My hot hater supply to sprinkle the 168 deg water over my grains keeping ~ 1/2 to 1 inch of water covering the grains. So if I get a finer grind on my grains I can increase the eff% with a better chance of a stuck sparge? or slow the sparge to a trickle? or just plan for 60% eff? any other suggestions?
Thanks for the help!!!
John

hjherbenson wrote:I use Beer Tools software, the efficiency was set at 75% and each of the beers ended up with a OG of .030 to .040 less then what it should of been. As for sparging I use the tube from My hot hater supply to sprinkle the 168 deg water over my grains keeping ~ 1/2 to 1 inch of water covering the grains. So if I get a finer grind on my grains I can increase the eff% with a better chance of a stuck sparge? or slow the sparge to a trickle? or just plan for 60% eff? any other suggestions?

I would perform a batch sparge to be sure that your slightly low efficiency isn't due to poor flow through the grain bed. If your efficiency doesn't increase with a batch sparge, then you most probably need to look at a finer grind.

Double grinding is a way I've used to show that my efficiency would increase with a finer grind. When I saw an increase with a double grind, I proceeded to optimize my grinder's gap for a single pass through the mill.

Batch sparging is relatively simple if you already know how to fly sparge.

Mash: The mash is the same for both techniques. Add grain and water of the right temperature and volume to your cooler to hit your mash temperature and thickness. Allow the grain to mash.

Mashout: Presuming you know the pre-boil volume you need and your approximate water loss due to absorption, add enough water to the mash to give you close to half your total pre-boil volume when you completely drain the tun. Shoot for 168

They're not cheap, but they last. If you can go from 60% up to 75 or 80%, you'll probably save 2-4 bucks a batch. Make 25-50 batches and you've broken even. Buy your malt in bulk, and you could cut your malt costs in half or more. That could save you $10 per batch and pay off the mill in 10 batches or less.

The real value comes from the peace of mind of having control over your grind and getting a reliable efficiency.